These Lines

by Sarah Passemar




This song began with chords. Sitting in a white, plastic, one-piece factory chair in the backyard concrete patio of the band's new house in La Plata, I began fiddling around with a guitar, and I started writing down the slightly irregular chord progression.  It felt as if the chords already existed, and I only had to figure out which strings to touch on the guitar to make it right. (They probably do in at least 27 different famous songs...)

When I started singing along to the recording I'd made of the chords, I stopped short: - the timing was funky.  It turned out, I'd accidentally written it in 5/4!  I figured it was probably because I had just been screwing around with Dave Brubeck Quartet's jazz piece, "Take Five" on the piano an hour or so before.

The inevitably depressing lyrics followed with no trouble.  The idea for this song had vaguely occurred to me a couple months before.

Someone mentioned recently that I should write an upbeat song.  Haha, very funny.

I can't remember the last time I cried
But I'm feeling safe now behind these lines

When I'm alone I feel fine
No one can touch me from here

No
I'm not scared,
I am fine
I am fine
Please don't go
Please don't come
here again
I am fine

When I'm alone I have time
No one can take what is mine

I can't remember the last time I smiled
But these bitter lines go for miles and miles

There is a mark on the wall
And I feel nothing at all...